In any fledgling
newspapers lifespan, there are certain benchmarks that serve
to quantify the success and potential future of that said
paper. In this case, that said paper is this said paper, The
Carrboro News.

Imagine my surprise
when I opened my email and found an email from a music promoter
from the west coast asking if I knew of any newspapers that
they could contact to promote the Against Me! February 25
show at The Cat's Cradle. With our usual ability to read between
the lines to determine what someone contacts us really wants,
we ignored the what was written, realizing that we have been
asked to review the band. If someone sends you links to the
band mp3 files and all the show dates, they obviously want
more than to just harmlessly ask a question about which paper
they should use to promote their show.

Our fledgling music
department, due to staffing problems, has been moved to the
Infant/Child Department, so take into mind that the reporter
is used to reviewing Sesame Street, The Bad News Bears and
the likes, not a hard core punk rock band.

After passing on
the names of the two unnamed Chapel Hill Newspapers and the
The Independent, I went to listen to the mp3 file to hear
what this band that will be taking Carrboro by storm on Feb
25 had to offer. I clicked on the link in the email to listen
to the file when I came across my first roadblock. The link
was long and spanned two lines, but the linkable part of the
link was only the first line....thus when I clicked on the
link I found a "Page Not Found" Page. Realizing
that bands are usually not that internet savvy I went back
to the email to trouble shoot. I saw the problem almost immediately
and then copied the whole link and then pasted it in my browser
window...only to notice that the second line was left behind
and once again I found the "Page Not Found" Page.
I went back to the email copied the last line and pasted it
at the end of the first line in the browser and Eureka!, the
file came up.

Having spent the
last two years reviewing music that would be acceptable to
my two year old daughter you can imagine my apprehension of
pushing the play button and unleashing the wall of chaotic
sound that I was sure was hidden behind the file. Punk rock
is a long way from the melodic
tunes sprinkled throughout Mr. Roger's Neighborhood and Sesame
Street. I put on my ear phones, so as not to expose my daughter
to what could be a life changing and possibly permanently
debilitating event, and pushed the forward button.

I have to say,
in all honesty, it wasn't Sesame Street, but I did make it
through the first song from their Smoke or Fire Album called
The Patty Hearst Syndrome. Pretty good, I thought to myself,
if I was into punk, this is probably the punk I would be into.
I listened to the second song from their Only Crime Album
called Take Me. Pretty good, I thought to myself, if I was
into punk, this is probably the punk I would be into.

OK, good.....the
music was listenable, so I went to Google and ran a couple
of other searches so that I could make this a better review
and try to look a little more knowledgeable..... I found more
information as well as the official Against
Me! website. Since I found that I decided that it was
better to go to their web site to get a less biased review
than I had to offer. I mean, where else can you get a more
objective review than from the band's own web site.... so
off you go.....

Final Notes- If
I was into punk, this is probably the punk I would be into.
If my daughter didn't have to be in bed by 8pm on Feb 25 and
if it wasn't 3 days before the Miami/Clemson game I would
probably be at the Cradle listening to these guys live.
Even though they are from the stronghold of Bush Country(Gainsville,
FL) in the state that's responsible for the mess we're in(Florida),
we probably shouldn't hold them responsible- If they bothered
to vote(In a county that their vote probably wouldn't be counted
anyway), my guess is that they probably didn't vote for Bush
and are probably as upset as I am about the State of the Union.
Less melodic than "It's a Small World" or "Sesame
Street Theme Song", but more melody than I expected.
The last show I saw at the Cradle was Todd Rundgren and I
can't remember the last show I saw before that, so the chances
of getting me to the show on Feb 25 (with or without my daughter)if
I was into punk and if this was the punk I was into, would
be slim to not very good.(But keep in mind- I'm the Children's
Music Reviewer, so you may want to ignore this review and
go to Google on your own and do a search for "Against
Me!" to see if you want to mark Feb 25 on your Things
to Do Calendar.